Misthallery's Young Pianist
by Laytonerd
Summary: Arianna's piano recital is coming next week and she is nervous because of that. Luckily for her, Luke knows how to calm her down.


**Note: this is takes place sometime after Luke met Arianna, but before Evan dies.**

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A fine veil of mist enveloped the morning sun, something that was perfectly normal if you were living in the small, foggy town of Misthallery. Arianna stretched out her fingers, her pale blue eyes took a glance to the score sitting on her piano's music rack. She felt a lump in her throat, her hands were shaking like a twig in a windy days.

_Don't be nervous, don't be nervous,_ Doubt gnawed at her mind. She inhaled deeply, trying to collect composure for herself. _Just_ s_tay calm and play that piece, Arianna!_

She pressed the first note down: the middle C. Her slender fingers gracefully danced on the keyboard, starting to fulfil the room with interwoven harmonies. Arianna soon lost into her playing, her initial worry faded away as the girl concentrates more on her performance. Slow, lovely streams of delicate melodies hovered elegantly, supported by the gentle but supportive basslines. As the brilliant play eventually reached its end, she played a series of chords before holding down the final note of the piece.

The girl was completely oblivious that a certain boy was watching behind the door for the whole time she had been playing.

"Wow! I didn't know you can play the piano, Arianna!" the boy clapped. The young girl jumped from surprise and instinctively turned to her back.

"Luke? What you're doing here?" she inquired.

He sheepishly scratched his head. "Umm… I'm just want to ask you to play with me."

Arianna raised her brows. Visitors at her age were quite a rare sight in the Barde household, let alone someone who was specifically looking for her. Most of them was just some kids from Highyard Hill that got dragged along by their parents, more than not to talk about boring things to her father (business, politics, the weather… you name it.) Even when she did cared enough to try and greet them (at her father's request, mind you), those kids would either quickly kept their distance away from her or being overly polite just because she was the mayor's daughter.

"I'm sorry Luke, but I can't, at least right now," she flipped the score back to the first page. "I must practise for my recital next week."

"You'll playing for a concert?" there was a glint of amazement on the corner of his eyes. "That sounds great!"

"Well," Arianna muttered with a frown. "I don't believe I could make it."

"Ey? Why?"

The girl in dark blue dress sighed. Her face fell. "I- I don't think I'm good enough. What if I messed it up? Everyone will laughed at me!" For some reason, her chest felt lighter after saying these words, albeit not much.

Luke Triton came closer, "Don't worry, Arianna. I believe you can. In fact, that was the best piano performance I've ever heard!"

She stared into him, could not sure if he really said that or her ears were just playing tricks on her. "Really Luke?"

He put his hand on her shoulder, "Yep. Trust me on this one, Arianna." Then he reached his pocket and pulled out a cherry lollipop, her favourite. "Here! I bought this from Aunt Taffy's!" he smiled as his eyes met with hers.

She felt her cheeks flared up as she took the confection. That precious, kind smile… somehow she always her heart pounded faster everytime she caught the sight of it. Since their first encounter, Luke had grown to be the only real friend she ever had. He taught her to ignore insults thrown around by other Misthallery kids, told her many stories of his father's days as an archaeologist, and even revealed her that he could speak with animals (he even introduced her to his mouse buddy, Toppy.) Luke was such a good friend of hers; no wonder if she might be starting to have butterflies at her tummy whenever she saw his gentle face.

"T-thanks, Luke," she mumbled, hoping that he did not notice her redden face. She opened the wrapper, her mouth filled with sweetness as the sugar melted on her tongue.

He took few steps to the window before sat down of Arianna's olive antique chair. "Hey, how if I just sit here and watch you play?"

"What?"

"Since I've nothing better to do and Tony's still busy on his homework, I would like to listen to your music, Arianna!" he giggled.

She smiled back. "Okay, then."

So, not long after that, the young girl was sunk back into her play as her best friend watching, the sweet melody echoed in their ears. Arianna had never expected that a certain boring night would brought her to Luke, something that she would not ever forget. She was very grateful, that she had someone other than her family whom could understood her through thick and thin, showing her how the pure kindness was like.

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**This was originally supposed to be written for Valentine's Day, but school being rough so it got overdue. Hahaha *awkward laugh***

**English is not my native language, so there may be some grammar mistakes. I am sorry if I got them too OOC-ish, though.**


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